Child and Family Voice in Digital Documentation in Early Childhood Education

Abstract

Digital technologies are integrated into the documentation practices in early childhood education as offering a variety of benefits like providing opportunities for child and family participation. The aim of this study was to investigate how child and family voice are integrated into digital documentation in the child-centred preschools. To this end, data were collected from two different types of preschools within the United States through document analysis of their digital documentation (e-portfolios and weekly newsletters) for one semester. As a result, while family voices were seen in the forms of family involvement activities and reflections, child voices were included through photos, direct quotations and learning stories. It was concluded that digital documentation integrates the child and family voice into the documentation process by enabling to include detailed and frequent entries in a variety of forms. Therefore, it is suggested that digital documentation can be a tool for increasing child and family voice in early childhood education.